Sword Art Online: Zina's Tale
by ZinaKiadai
Summary: Zina is a junior in high school and is in love with MMORPG's. So naturally, the release of Sword Art Online has him pumped. But what was once a simple game will turn into a fight for his life and the others around him. The only way out is to beat the game. Will Zina be able to fight his way out, or will he be trapped in SAO until he dies?
1. Link Start!

Sword Art Online: Zina's Tale

Chapter 1: Link Start!

His name was Zina... Zina Kiadai, and he had always been fascinated by MMORPG's and virtual reality. Today he was going to be able to combine his love for both by playing the new hit MMO, Sword Art Online. The game had already been beta tested and unfortunately, Zina hadn't heard about the game until after the beta test or he surely would've signed up for it.

He was in such a rush he didn't even eat breakfast. He threw his clothes on and ran for the door. "Where do you think you're going in such a rush Zina?" His Mom asked. "Oh uh, hi Mom. Remember that release of SAO that's coming out today? Well I'm kind of running late and the line will be a mile long before I get there if I don't leave now, so bye!" He heard his Mom yelling at him as he swung open the front door and burst down the sidewalk.

His feet hit the pavement with such force he thought he would surely crack the cement. He ran faster than a lion chasing its prey. Finally, he rounded the corner of the block and nearly slammed into another person waiting in line for SAO. "Whoa, watch where you're going kid!" The man exclaimed.

"Sorry, I'm sorry. I didn't realize the line would be this long while I was running." Zina apologized, but the man didn't seem to care all too much to listen to his explanation. As soon as he said what he had to say to Zina, he went on waiting in line. It actually kind of pissed him off. Sure he ran into the guy, but he could've at least listened to Zina's explanation before he turned away and went about his business.

Then again. It could've just been his disdain for almost everyone. He only had a handful of friends. All of his friends liked what he liked and they always got along, even though Zina hardly ever talked to them. He wasn't too keen on approaching new people because of the world's stupidity. Everyone he encountered upset him and/or pissed him off. But, when he did run into new people who tried to say something to him, he put in his best effort to talk back and be friendly.

The line lasted what seemed like forever before it even got halfway, and Zina was starting to get hungry. He pulled out a bag of chips from his drawstring bag and munched on them in line. He was actually surprised he hadn't seen any of his friends in line, waiting for their own copy of SAO. Maybe they didn't have the money, or maybe they just weren't interested in this particular RPG. No, that was impossible. They had all been ranting about it for the past month. There was no way any of them would pass it up.

Finally, when he got near the front of the line, his best friend Jameson passed him and waved his game box in the air at him. "See you on the other side Zina, maybe we can start a guild?" Jameson scoffed, he knew that Zina didn't like partying up in video games. He was more of the lone wolf type, he didn't like people getting in his way. Nor did he like the idea of leading anyone. "Yea," Zina said half laughing. "maybe."

When Jameson walked away, Zina continued to wait in line while typically staring at his feet before he finally made it into the store. He was so tired that he nearly forgot why he was there. He walked up to the counter and said drearily "One copy of Sword Art Online please." The man kind of just looked at him weirdly before replying "That'll be 60 dollars."

Zina reached into his pocket and fished out the one hundred dollar bill he had earned by working at his Mom's IT workplace for a day and handed it to the man. Good thing that he had already purchased the nerve gear before the release of SAO in preparation. "Here you go, have a good one." The man said, and handed back Zina's change and his copy of the game. That was enough to restore his energy and make him plow through the crowds to get back home.

He slammed the front door open and called out "I'm home!" Then he ran into his room and instantly turned the PC on. But before he could even login, his Mom barged in. "Not so fast Zina, you still have to eat dinner, take a shower, and everything else before I even let you look at that helmet contraption thing."

Zina looked at his Mom extremely annoyed. "Mom, it's called a nerve gear." He stated. "Well, whatever it is, I don't want you on it until you have done everything I have said." She said, starting to raise her voice. He didn't like his Mom when she was angry. So to save himself from utmost destruction he just did as he was told and headed downstairs for dinner.

He gulped down his food in a few minutes flat and ran for the shower. As soon as he stepped into the steam, his mind began to wander. What class will I choose? What weapon will I use? A sword would be good for medium to short range combat. But, a bow would be really good for long distance combat. What type of armor would he wear? Light armor would make for better mobility. But, heavy armor would be better protection. The possibility's were unending.

Zina sat in the shower for a good hour before he realized the water was turning cold. He turned off the shower and got out to dry and brush his teeth and hair before he went to his room. He stepped out of the bathroom and it was like an icy dungeon. He had already gotten use to the steamy confinement and was not prepared for the coldness of his house.

When he went into his room he looked at the clock and realized it was already 11 o' clock. Dammit, he had school tomorrow, and he didn't want to be tired all day. So, he debated his options and decided that the game could wait until tomorrow. He slid into bed and kept thinking about the game. Everything would be new and exciting. What would it be like to be in a whole different world?

After about 30 minutes of thinking, his mind at last allowed sleep to come to him. But he almost wished he wouldn't have fallen asleep, because unlike in real life, Zina was vulnerable to the unimaginable in his sleep. Nightmares didn't come often to him. But when they hit, they hit hard. They almost always included death, or they involved a sickness or plague of some sort. But this dream was different. It didn't involve any of that.

He was on a snowy mountain, overlooking a luscious green field, spotting ruins and other amazing landmarks. It was the most amazing thing he had ever seen. It almost seemed like it was a whole, brand new world. Despite the coldness of the mountain, he lay down in the snow and stared at the sky. It was a brilliant blue with an orange tint to it from the sunset, and the clouds looked like huge cotton balls. For some reason it seemed like it was more vivid than the world he lived in. But then things took a turn.

The sky and the clouds turned red, blood red. Then a grid started expanding across the sky above him. In each rectangular polygon read "Warning". Zina wondered what that meant. Could something very bad be happening? Is this the way the world would end? What was he even looking at? He looked down at his feet to see them start to disintegrate and fly off in particles. The same thing started happening to the rest of his body, until he was a great nothingness.

He felt light headed as his body reformed itself in the middle of a town. He looked around as people of all shapes and sizes mimicked him, looking very confused. He looked at a sign on a statue in the center of the town. It read "Town of Beginnings". Was that the name of the town? He had so many questions. Why was he here? When could he leave?

Zina looked around and spotted a familiar face. It was Jameson; why in the hell would he be here? He rushed through the crowd, anxious to reach his friend. When he finally fought through the mass of people he grabbed Jameson's shoulder. "Jameson!" He shouted, but his friend didn't respond. "Jameson!" He tried again, still nothing. After a few tries, he gave up trying to make contact with his friend. Jameson looked different, confused like everyone else, and maybe he even looked scared.

It was calm for a few minutes, and then the sky started bleeding. He looked up into the sky as the red fluid poured down and started shaping itself into human form. When it finally stopped, the human silhouette had been completed. He stood there, no, floating there. It was completely silent and said nothing. A few seconds passed, but it felt like minutes. The floating figure exhaled and began speaking. 'My name is Kayaba Akihiko, and welcome to Sword Art Online."

Zina woke up in a cold sweat and nearly puked. But why? It wasn't a brutal dream, nor was it scary at all. What could it have meant? No, he was thinking this through too much. Nothing more, nothing less, it was just a dream. He got up and allowed himself a glass of water before he went back to bad. He looked up at the wall. It was 3 in the morning, and he was still laying here awake. Finally he dosed off into a bliss, dreamless sleep.

"Zina! It's 8 o' clock, wake up or you'll be late!" His mother called.

"Ok, ok, I'm up mom!" He replied.

He walked downstairs and grabbed some toast that his mom had cooked and headed for the bus stop. When he arrived at the bus stop he noticed something strange, Jameson wasn't there. He always met up with him at the bus stop. Oh well, maybe he was just running late or something. Perhaps he even stayed at home to play SAO. He was the type of person to do something like that.

He gave up on assuming that Jameson was late by the time the bus got there. He came to the conclusion that he just skipped to play the new game. So he climbed up the stairs to the bus and took a seat and noticed something. Half of the people on the bus were gone. No way that many people on his bus could be interested in MMO's. Even if they did, they definitely wouldn't skip school over it. Zina finally dismissed the thought and assumed some flu was going around or something.

When he got to the school he sat down at a table and took out a book and started to read it. It wasn't his favorite pass time activity, but what else did he have to do? He read for a few minutes until the bell finally rang. He looked up and realized that not only half the people from his bus were absent. But almost every soul in the school was. Something was definitely up, then he remembered his dream and started to think that it couldn't be a coincidence.

"Hey Mom, I need you to come get me. They're dismissing the school early because almost everyone is gone. Even most of the teachers aren't here today."

"Huh, that is weird. Ok, I will be there as soon as possible."

When she finally arrived, Zina grabbed his things and waved to the people in the front office and took off. He got into the car and his Mom looked at him, seemingly waiting for an explanation. "So, did they tell you anything?" She remarked.

"Well no, but I have a good idea of what I think is going on. But it's just a hunch, and I'd rather not say anything about it until I know for sure."

He expected an argument and for her to force him to tell her. But she instead just nodded and carried on driving. They stopped for lunch and continued the rest of the way home. When he finally got home, Zina didn't wait a second. He told his mom that he would be in his room for a little while and not to come in. Then he raced upstairs, threw his book bag down, and started his computer. He inserted the SAO game disk into the computer and put on the nerve gear. He lay down on his bed shaking nervously. _I hope I know what I'm doing._ He thought to himself, then he closed his eyes.

"Link start!"


	2. Menu Malfunction

Chapter 2: Menu Malfunction

"Please choose how you would like your avatar to look." A robotic voice said.

"W- What?" Zina asked with his eyes closed.

"Please choose how you would like your avatar to look." The voice repeated.

Zina opened his eyes to see he was in a snow white room with a heads up display showing different hair selections and body specifics. He was about to ask another question, but then he remembered he was in a video game and he was more than likely speaking to an AI; Designed to have a specific script set. So he decided against it and scrolled through his options.

He scrolled through the selection menu and chose hair. He chose the same hair style he used in all RPG's. He selected medium length hair, enough to cover his eyes, and changed the color of his hair to black. He scrolled through the rest of the options and chose his clothes. He decided to go with light armor and all black with a splash of red, his two favorite colors. Then the real decision he had been waiting for came.

"Please choose your weapon."

Zina sighed, he was pretty sure he knew what kind of weapon he would use, but he wasn't entirely sure. It didn't seem like it was a hard choice, but it was when it came to combat. His finger hovered over the option that would decide his play style. After a minute or two of contemplating he pressed the button.

"You have chosen the long sword. Is this the weapon you would like to use?"

A box appeared in front of him that read "Confirm weapon: Long Sword", with a circle button and x button at the bottom. He was pretty sure that the circle button meant yes and the x meant no. So he pressed the circle button and waited a few seconds. He looked down and noticed something familiar. He was disintegrating into particles, which felt weird.

He reappeared in a town he realized from his dream. Was it true after all? He walked up to the statue he saw in his dream and read the sign. It read "Town of Beginnings". Zina stepped back and started shaking. His dream was real; he was in the Town of Beginnings. But nothing looked out of the ordinary. He looked up; the sky was the same brilliant blue as it was in his dream. He calmed down a bit, maybe it was just a coincidence. But the more he thought about it being a coincidence, the more it seemed like that was out of the question. He had to find Jameson.

He was walking out of the town gate when he bumped into a mysterious figure in a black coat. "Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't see you there." Zina apologized.

The kid turned around to face him. "It's alright…" He began. "I didn't see you here yesterday though, are you new?"

"Yeah, I am. I actually came here because of this weird hunch I had." He laughed. "But I doubt it's true."

"Oh, yeah?" the figure remarked. "This should be good. What is your hunch?"

"Well, I had a dream last night that I was here, in the Town of Beginnings. The sky was red and there was a figure in a-"

"Impossible! What's your name?"

"My- My name is Zina. What is yours?"

"...Kirito... My name is Kirito. Check your menu and try to find the log out option." Kirito exclaimed.

He swiped his two fingers down to open the menu and clicked through his options. At first he looked in the most obvious place it would be, in the options menu. He noticed an open door symbol which had to be the log out option. But it was strange. It didn't have any text written next to it like it should. He pressed it but nothing happened. "The option is here, but it doesn't work!" Zina said panicked.

"Exactly, yesterday, in this same town center you saw I your dream, everyone in SAO was transported here. The sky turned red and the figure you talked about was here too. He told us that we were trapped in here forever, we can't log out. The only way we can escape is to beat all 100 floors and bosses in the game." Kirito explained.

"Well, that doesn't sound too bad, someone will come along eventually and pull the Nerve Gear off of our heads right?"

"You better hope not, if the Nerve Gear is pulled off of your head it will fry your brain."

Zina staggered back and almost doubled over. "You've got to be kidding me; my Mom will come into my room because I've been in here too long and pull it off of me!"

"Hey, whoa, calm down dude. I highly doubt that, Kayaba Akihiko, the figure you saw in your dream and the creator of SAO, showed us some headlines from the news. People have already tried that and paid dearly for it. The news should reach your mom before she tries anything."

He calmed down a bit; at least his Mom wouldn't try that. She wouldn't do anything to put his life in danger. But that still didn't explain things. Why would someone do this to 10,000 people? Surely this was illegal and the police would investigate on it. But could they really do anything? No one knows how to fix the fact that you can now die in real life by dying in a video game.

"So, why is he doing this? What kind of sick deal does he get out of this?" Zina asked impatiently.

"I don't know, no one does, but I know one thing; I'm going to clear all 100 floors of this game and escape. I'm not someone's guinea pig, I will not be tested."

Zina stared at Kirito, he didn't usually admire people but Kirito seemed to have a lot of confidence and he couldn't help but to acknowledge it. He kind of felt like Kirito was him in a way. He felt the same way, he didn't want to just sit here and wait until he died. He was going to fight and escape this death game.

"I'm with you Kirito, where do we start?"

"I'm sorry, but did you say we? Don't take this too offensively but I don't travel in parties. If someone dies with me I will feel responsible. I don't want that to happen. Thanks for the offer really, but I'm just not one to travel in groups." Kirito turned around to leave, but Zina grabbed his arm.

"Listen, I know how you feel; I'm a lone wolf myself. But I don't know anyone here and I'm looking for my friend... He's trapped here somewhere and I could use his help. I could especially use your help Kirito. Please, I need your help." Zina pleaded.

Kirito scratched his head for a moment as if deciding whether or not Zina was worth his time. "Ok fine, I'll help you. Send me a party invite." He said.

Zina got excited, even though he realized it was probably dumb. But he didn't care, Kirito was obviously a very skilled player and he could really use his help. He slid his fingers in a downward motion to open the menu, selected Kirito's name and invited him. Kirito spontaneously received the party invite and reluctantly accepted it. "I'm only helping you until we find your friend. Then I'm out of here, got me?" Kirito stated.

He jokingly saluted to Kirito and half laughed "Yes sir."

The two headed toward the town gates and made small talk. "Do you know anything about this game Zina?" Kirito started.

"To be honest with you, I don't. I have played RPG's before though, just not in virtual reality like this. It really is amazing that we have the technology to create this kind of thing."

"Yeah well, don't fall in love with this game. It's a death game; we're trying to escape as soon as possible."

"Yeah… Hey Kirito, what do you suppose will happen to our physical bodies while we are stuck in here?"

"Well, I would assume since we won't be able to eat food or bathe ourselves, we will be taken to a hospital to be cared for. We will probably be hooked up to a feeding tube when we get back."

"When… Wouldn't it be if we get back, not when?"

Kirito stopped in his tracks and turned around. "I don't plan to die in here Zina; I'm going to make it back from this Hell. This is not my home, and I will not stop until I am back with my family again." He turned back around and kept walking.

"You're right, this isn't our home. I am completely with you, but if we are going to make it out of here we can't do it by ourselves Kirito. Forget your lone wolf moral and look where we are, we are stuck in a video game for God sakes. But the thing is, this isn't a game anymore. This is life or death, neither of us can do this alone."

Without hesitation, Kirito responded. "I can't be responsible for your death."

Zina paused in his steps. "W- What? What are you talking about? If I die it will be my own fault, you wouldn't be responsible for it."

"You don't get it. What if you were in trouble and I couldn't get to you in time and you died? What if I was in trouble and you got killed saving me? I couldn't live with that, that's why I don't party up with anyone."

He ran to catch up with Kirito. "I completely understand what you're talking about. But if I died trying to save you, that would be my decision. If I died and you couldn't save me, it would be my fault for getting myself into that situation. Listen, if I die, it's not your fault. I need help, not just until we find my friend. I need your help until we end this Kirito."

"Fine, but just so we're clear, your death isn't my fault." Kirito half smiled and chuckled. "Don't get in my way either noob."

Zina pushed Kirito playfully. "Same goes to you."

They walked alongside each other for a long time. Could they actually survive this? Kirito seemed so confident about escaping. He was so confident that he almost convinced Zina they would make it out. He got to thinking, Kirito seemed too confident. "Kirito, you weren't by any chance a beta tester were you?"

He didn't say anything for the longest time, at least a minute. But he finally answered him. "Yea, I was. How did you guess that?"

"I don't know, you just seemed really confident. Have you made it far?"

"No, I'm confident because I know I'm not going to die here. I didn't make it too far at all in the beta either. I only made it to the 8th floor."

"Hey, that's better than nothing. At least you know the first 8 bosses and their attack patterns right?"

"I only know the first 7; I made it to the 8th floor, but not the 8th floor boss."

"Still better than I could have done. Are we almost at the town gates yet?"

"You tell me."

They rounded the corner and the first thing that caught Zina's eyes was the huge gates leading to the outside of the town. He wasn't sure if he could make it to the very end. But he knew that if he had Kirito on his side he could make it far. He wasn't going to give up easy, Kirito was right. This isn't his home. This is a temporary prison, but he was going to break through the bars and make it home.

They waved to the guards at the gates and walked out. He didn't know what kind of troubles he would run into. He didn't know what obstacles he would overcome. He didn't know where he would have to cut his losses or who he would lose in his journey. But he knew one thing; he wasn't going to die in this video game.


	3. Illfang the Kobold Lord

_**Sorry for the delay of chapters guys, I've been busy lately and I have finals at school. But chapters will be updated regularly again. Thank you for your patience :)**_

Chapter 3: Illfang the Kobold Lord

Kirito's and Zina's blades collided. "You're better than I thought you were Zina!" Kirito shouted through the loud ringing of clashing metal.

They were practicing their sword skills and movement patterns in an early morning friendly duel. Kirito praised him for his excellent battle style, but what he didn't know was that Zina was struggling to keep up, while Kirito was barely breaking a sweat. He was usually exemplary in keeping up with his foes movements. Was it the fact that Kirito was his friend and he didn't want to go all out? He couldn't be quite sure.

Kirito took the final strike and knocked Zina's broadsword out of his hand, finishing the duel. They both crouched to the ground and took heavy breathes. He was sure Kirito hadn't struggled as much as he seemed like he was now. Kirito outstretched his hand towards Zina "Good duel, you gave me a run for my money."

He took his hand and shook it. "Thanks, but I was struggling to keep up, you were the one who was amazing."

"Yeah, I could tell you were holding back, we'll talk about your battle style over some lunch."

Holding back? Could that actually be true? Maybe he was holding back without taking notice. He didn't know why he would hold back though. He knew it was just a friendly duel and that if he actually struck Kirito he wouldn't die. But he felt as if that _was_ the reason he was holding back.

Zina sat down in front of Kirito and skimmed over the menu. He was starving; he couldn't remember the last time he wanted food so bad. His stomach growled in unison with his sigh. Would the food even really help his hunger? He hadn't thought about it much, he just ate. But the food in this world more than likely wouldn't satisfy any of his hunger for his actual body.

After he ordered his food he rested his head on the table, he was about to doze off before Kirito began speaking. "Let's talk about your battle style."

Zina sat up surprised at the sudden outburst from Kirito. "Huh? What? Oh, right… You said earlier that you could tell I was holding back. What's that all about?"

"Well, your battle style is impeccable for sure. Your movement is very fluid, your parrying is astounding as well, and you dodge faster than any other player I've seen so far. But the reason you lost against me is because you were holding back. If you hadn't have done that you probably would've beaten me."

"Okay, first of all, I can't even tell if I'm holding back or not. So how can you? Second of all, how do I keep from holding back and what exactly am I holding back for?"

Kirito clutched the table and without hesitation retaliated. "Zina, this obviously isn't a game anymore and I understand that you're hesitant about attacking other players because you know that if they die it's for real. Part of me respects that, but the other part of me says you're a damn fool. Obviously you won't hurt anyone unless threatened, but now its kill or be killed man."

Yea, he was definitely right. Zina didn't see it before, but now that someone said it out loud, he was afraid to kill someone. He couldn't live with himself if he killed another player; it was just something that was against his way of nature. But he understood where Kirito was coming from and he had to overcome that or he would be the one that's killed. This wasn't a game anymore; he was fighting for his life.

"Ok, right, I follow you. Yea, I understand completely. I'm going to try from now on, no holding back."

"Good, here comes the food." Kirito said with a twinkle in his eye; he was obviously hungry.

The waiter came to their table and sat down their food. Kirito thanked the waiter and sat for a second just staring at his food. Maybe he was praying or something? Zina was about to take a bite of his own food when Kirito grabbed his wrist. "Wait." He said in a low whisper.

"Hey, what's the big idea? Why are we whispering and not stuffing our faces?" Zina whispered back.

"You see our waiter over there?"

Zina looked over and saw the waiter eyeing them. He didn't look too suspicious; he was probably just keeping an eye on them in case they needed a refill on their drinks or something. "He doesn't look too scary. What's got you spooked Kirito?"

"Just casually take a sip from your drink and wait until he walks away."

He didn't know what the big deal was but he listened to Kirito anyways and sipped from his drink until the waiter walked into the kitchen out of sight. Kirito got up and started walking out "Let's go." He said.

Zina was confused, but he got up and followed his friend anyways. He would've questioned Kirito further if he didn't know he probably had a good reason for his actions. He was always on alert and paying close attention to the smallest details. So obviously something was up. They stopped walking at a park a short distance from the restaurant. "Okay, explain to me why we are not eating and why I'm still hungry."

"Well first of all, you're hungry because you haven't eaten." Kirito said sarcastically.

"Smartass" Zina mumbled.

"Second of all, you should be thanking me rather than complaining. That food you were about to eat was poisoned."

Zina nearly doubled over. "You're kidding me! How did you know that?"

"I have upped my detecting skills in the short week we've been here. Plus I saw I small portion of a tattoo on his wrist, and rumor has it that it's the mark of the PK guild, Laughing Coffin."

"Alright," Zina began. "I see, but why would he be after us? What reason does he have to kill us?"

"Let me ask you something. Do you know those people who play MMOs to PK for fun? Well that's what Laughing Coffin is. They don't care if this is for real, it's fun to them and they'll keep doing it unless they're stopped."

"So what are we going to do about it?"

"Right now we're not going to do anything. Because I can almost guarantee you that he's not the only Laughing Coffin member near that restaurant. He could just call for backup, and then we'd be screwed."

"Wait, this isn't making any sense. You can't PK in safe zones like Villages. So even if we got ambushed they couldn't do anything, Plus, how would poison work in a safe zone?

"Well, you're right that a player can't be physically harmed in a safe zone, but I don't think poison applies to the safe zone rules. Plus we shouldn't try to start a scene and attract attention to ourselves."

Zina's head rushed with thought. A PK guild, a guild specifically for killing others; it was hard to understand. But it had to be true. Kirito knew what he was talking about and he wouldn't lie. Why would someone still want to kill if they knew that this was the real deal though? Maybe they didn't fully believe or understand their predicament. Or maybe they were legitimate psychopaths who got a kick out of killing people.

He sat on the park bench, thinking on this for a while. He felt someone shaking his arm. "Zina, hey Zina snap out of it." Said a familiar voice. But he kept thinking on the PK guild until he felt a punch on his shoulder.

"Ouch." He looked up and it was Kirito. "What was that for?"

"We can focus on Laughing Coffin later, Diavel has called a meeting."

There weren't many at the meeting. Zina counted about 50 people in total. Maybe the meeting wasn't all that important, or maybe people just didn't like meetings. He wondered what the meeting could be about. Had Diavel heard about the PK guild or was it something more important?

Diavel finally stepped down to the center of the theater-like structure. He looked very composed and confident. "The reason we have called you here is because we have found the first boss room."

Everyone gasped, even Kirito looked surprised. But it was just the first boss out of 100; there was no reason for everyone to get all hyped up. For all they knew, they could get killed in the first boss room. But Zina knew that wouldn't happen. As long as he had Kirito as his friend he would be fine. He knew that Kirito wouldn't let anyone get hurt. But he also knew that a few people wouldn't make it to the second boss room.

"We are going to form into groups to defeat the boss named Illfang the Kobold Lord."

After a while of explaining the bosses fight style and the weapons he used, Diavel told everyone to get into groups, Kirito and Zina looked at each other awkwardly and after a second Kirito said jokingly "Shit, we don't have any friends."

Kirito looked around and Zina saw him looking at a shady character in a hood and he walked up to them. Zina sat there and watched Kirito talk to the person. After a few minutes Kirito waved Zina over. He walked up to them. "Zina, this girl will be in our party to help us against the boss."

The girl didn't say anything, she just sat there awkwardly. He whispered to Kirito. "Umm, she's not very talkative. What's her name?"

"About that; I haven't got that far yet." Kirito whispered back.

Zina sat back down next to Kirito and sighed. "So are we actually ready for this boss fight? Or should we practice more?"

"No," Kirito started. "We've got our battle style and sword skills down pat. We just have to stay at a safe distance from the boss until he lets down his guard, or we can block his attacks."

The morning after the meeting, Zina met Kirito and the girl at the theater. He yawned and stretched. "Well," Zina sighed. "Shall we go?"

Everyone met Diavel at the path to the boss room. Everyone walked ahead while Zina and his friends stayed behind. Kirito skimmed over their battle plan. "Okay, you will block the attacks then switch out and Zina and I will attack. Got it?"

"Um," The girl said quietly. "How do you switch?"

Kirito and Zina stopped in their tracks as the girl kept walking. "This is her first MMO isn't it?" Zina asked.

"Probably." Kirito replied.

After a few minutes of walking, they found the entrance to the boss room. Zina half listened to Diavel's enthusiastic speech about how they would come out of the room victorious and so on and so forth. He didn't care for the victory speech; he just wanted to get this over with. He still hadn't found his friend JC. Hopefully he hadn't gotten himself killed. There were very few things that JC was careful about. But Zina knew that since this was real, JC would take it seriously.

"-we will win!" Zina heard Diavel finishing his speech. "Now let's go in there and kill us a boss!"

Everyone yelled and cheered with wild ambition and confidence. Kirito looked at Zina with a reassured look. He saw that look before. He was ready for the fight. Ready for whatever was behind those doors. Zina looked over at the hooded girl who, for the first time since they had met, had a confident smile. He saw how his friends were anxious to win and put a smile on his own face as well.

Diavel swung open the door and everyone gasped. What was it? Zina pushed past the crowd to get a good look. He couldn't believe what he saw. JC was laying on the other side of the doors, motionless.


	4. The First Frontier

Chapter 4: The First Frontier

Zina lurched forward to his friend and shook him. He tried and tried to get something out of his friend; a word, a movement, a groan. Something to know that he was alive. Right when he was about to give up he remembered. He looked up at JC's health guage; he had 10 HP left. Zina reached panickly for a health potion in his inventory. With shaking fingers, he selected the health potion and healed his friend.

JC groaned "Ahhhhhh that hurt like a sonofabitch."

Zina laughed with a shallow breath. He was alive, his friend was alive. He was on the brink of death but he was able to save him. "You're still the same old JC."

Diavel seemed relieved to see that Zina's friend was alive. But never-the-less, he was in a hurry. "I'm glad youre alright young man, but we really need to get this done"

Zina helped his friend to his feet "Well, I have alot of questions. How you got in here. Why you were here alone. Why the boss didn't finish you off. Oh, and I know you probably just got done fighting this guy, but there is no time for talk."

By the time he finished his sentence the others were rushing at full speed to the boss, except for Kirito and the girl they picked up. They walked up to Zina and JC frantically. Kirito grabbed Zina by the hood and pulled him forward with him "Ok, 1st order of business. The girl's name is Asuna. 2nd order of business. No time for talk, lets go" Kirito pushed him and Zina didn't hesitate. He broke into a full run with Kirito towards the boss, with JC and Asuna close behind.

"JC, Asuna, block the attacks then switch and me and Kirito will hit him while he's got his guard down!" Zina shouted.

"Got it!" They responded in unison.

"Now!" Zina and Kirito slowed down and allowed Asuna and JC to pass them.

They parried the first volley of attacks and yelled "Switch!"

Kirito and Zina bursted forward and took a big slice out of the boss. "Switch!"

After a few attacks, the boss threw his sword. The 4 of them leaped backwards and gave some safety room between them and the boss, but then the unexpected happened.

Diavel rushed full speed at the boss with no hesitation. But his expression changed when he got midway to the boss. Zina was confused; he looked at Kirito who had the exact same look of terror on his face.

"Diavel don't! That's not a Talwar; that's an Nōdachi!"

He was right, Illfang pulled out an Nōdachi. But Zina wasn't sure exactly what it meant and why it was so significant. Unless… That was it! Kirito knew this boss from the beta test. It must have used a Talwar when it switched battle sequences in the beta. But now, it was using an Nōdachi; which had much more effective range.

Kirito's warning came too late. Diavel was already soaring through the air. The boss moved faster than a boss of that size should have. He hit Diavel and everything moved in slow motion. Diavel flew across the room and landed with a thud.

JC, Asuna, and Kirito all ran to Diavel's side. Zina stood there, shocked and scared. This was the first time he had been legitimately frightened in SAO. His body stopped, unable to make any movements; he was completely immobilized. One thing ran through his mind, death… _Death, death, death! _He thought rationally. Then, something inside of him snapped.

"Graggghhh!" Zina roared.

It was like he was having an out of body experience. He could see everything he was doing. He flashed forward, far faster than his agility stats should have allowed. The boss was taken aback by his sudden outburst. Even though Illfang was just a bunch of 1's and 0's, he displayed visible shock and surprise. But only or a moment, the boss recovered quickly and swung his sword down with a great bellow.

"Too slow!" Zina yelled to nobody in particular. He side dashed, completely absent-minded. He counterattacked with his own sword, taking a chunk out of the boss's digitalized flesh and HP. The beast was quick to retaliate, but not quickly enough. The Nōdachi came for a horizontal swipe. But Zina shut that down hastily. He hopped on top of the sword like a spring board and jumped and sliced the boss from shoulder to hip.

The battle lasted for what seemed like forever. There was a mix of screaming from Zina himself, roars from the boss, the sound of clashing metal and the sound of Zina's sword hitting the boss. But the thing that disturbed Zina the most was the complete silence from his comrades. There were no screams of protest from his outburst; no one even seemed to fear Zina's death…

No, this wasn't an awkward silence, this was silence from shock. Nobody would expect anyone to tackle a boss head on by himself, not even Diavel.

_Oh yeah,_ Zina thought. Diavel was injured, and this boss had caused it. Renewed, seething anger pierced through him. He was not going to let Diavel's sacrifice go in vain.

Zina closed in for the final strike. The boss swung his sword down, but Zina dashed sideways. The Nōdachi struck the ground, causing a small earthquake. Zina leaped on top of the blade and ran all the way up to the hilt.

Time slowed down, although he wasn't sure why. The boss was frozen from his previous attack. Maybe it was Zina's adrenaline that slowed everything down. He took a final swing with his sword. This was it; it was over.

The sword connected with the boss's chest. Zina slid all the way down with his sword, slicing and ripping through every pixel of Illfang's skin. It took only a few seconds for Zina to reach the ground. He saw the boss explode into thousands of tiny polygons.

"It's kill or be killed." He whispered to himself.

He could feel the weight of the battle on him. Every single bit of fatigue tore through him like a blade. It took all he had to stand straight. When he finally gave up on standing, he collapsed.

"Zina!" A familiar voice yelled.

Zina opened his eyes to see the boss still shattering. He couldn't have passed out for more than a few seconds. He stood to his feet with the help of his hands. It took enormous effort to remain standing. In fact, it took every bit of his spaired strength. But he wasn't going to give the game the satisfaction of keeping him down.

"Are you crazy?" The voice said. Zina concentrated, and finally the voice came into focus. The voice belonged to Kirito. "You could've gotten yourself killed! Sit down, you need to rest!"

While it's true that the boss had barely taken a quarter of his HP, he could still sense the strain on his body from the battle. His physical body was probably in a cold sweat at this point. But he wasn't going to rest, he couldn't until he won.

Zina looked down at his hand and noticed that he was still clutching the long sword so hard that his knuckles had turned milky white. He shook his head dazed and sheathed the sword. He shook his hand as well and could still feel the tension from the vice grip he had given the hilt of his sword. With a quick glance up, he saw JC walking towards him, seeming much calmer than the others.

"Zina, you crazy motherfucker." JC said and patted him on the back. "You're still as crazy as you ever were."

He stumbled back from fatigue and caught himself on his back foot. "Yeah, I guess I am. Do me a favor and don't do that. I feel like I'm hung over man."

Which was true, he hadn't felt this bad since he came down with pneumonia. He had a killer migraine, his whole body felt uncalibrated, heavy and his vision was blurry. He had just enough vision to see that everyone was staring at him in disbelief and what seemed to be a hint of disdain. Maybe they were jealous that he had dealt the final blow to the boss while they just sat back and watched.

About the time Zina regained his balance, an item started floating down to him from where the boss disintegrated. He reached up to grab it, but as soon as he touched it with his fingertips, the object dissipated. A text box appeared in front of him that read "Luna Ring_ added to inventory". _He wasn't sure what it meant, but it sounded cool.

Kirito rushed over, grabbed his arm and yanked him over away to where no one else could hear them. He punched him in the arm and Zina looked at him sideways. "What's your problem Kirito?"

"What's my problem? What's my fucking problem?!" He yelled in a whisper. "You almost got yourself fucking killed! That's my problem!"

Zina grabbed his shoulder and shook him a little. "Calm down man..." He emphasized. "I'm fine, I'm still in one piece. I feel weak but I'm alive."

Kirito pulled away from his grasp and sighed. "Fine, fine. Just... be more careful Zina." He sounded genuinely concerned.

They both walked back over to the group where everyone's mouths remained agape. "Cheater!" Someone yelled at him. "I bet he's a beta tester too!" Someone else yelled. This pissed him off, but he just smiled and laughed a little.

"Yeah yeah yeah, I'm a cheater alright." He chuckled. "Oh wait... actually, I'm not." He said and turned to the guy he accused him of being a beta tester. "I'm not a beta tester either slick, so get your shit together. I just more than likely saved all of your lives. Except for 3 people who I know can carry their own, they have room to talk to me. But until any of you can say you saved lives, back off."

He slid his fingers down to open the menu. He scrolled to his inventory and equipped the ring he had just obtained. It faded into existence on his ring finger and he looked closely at it. The metal was all black and he looked closer at the stone. It was black opal with a crescent moon fixed on top of the opal. The little sparkles in the black opal looked like stars, which made him smile.

"I earned this ring by saving all of you, and if you want to be dicks about it just because I killed the boss then so be it." He addressed to his malicious audience and started walking towards the stairs to the next floor when he heard footsteps behind him. He looked behind him to see who was following him.

It was Kirito, Asuna and JC. They all looked at him with a concerned look and took another step forward. "If you think I'm staying behind then you're a damn fool Zina." JC said with a weak smile and grabbed his shoulder.

"I'm not leaving either. I may think you're crazy as hell for what you did but I also promised you I wasn't going to leave until the bitter end." Kirito chimed in and stepped further up.

Asuna just nodded silently and stepped forward as well. Zina wasn't sure what convinced them to stick with him, but he was grateful for them. He smiled and nodded at them with approval. His smile quickly disappeared as stared at the frowning audience. He took a quick step down and looked over them.

"For those of you who doubt the legitimacy of what just happened and what to turn on me, I suggest you straighten up and learn about what situation we're in…" He smirked and started walking up the stairs with his friends. "… or you're all going to die."


End file.
